Sunday, January 27, 2008

Drake's magic carpet ride just keeps getting better. This is a team that now expects to win, no matter the score or the pressure.

It was great to hear the students Saturday night. The Knapp Center hasn't rocked like that for a Valley game in... well, ever.

Big thanks to Keno Davis. After coaching the Bulldogs to their 17th straight win, he stopped in the parking lot and gave reporter Chris Hassel a jump start. Well, Chris' car. Keno does it all!

My youngest son, Colin, now walks around the house saying the following over and over: "Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die." I couldn't be prouder.

The movie Hot Rod is growing on me. Teens and tweens love it, and now I find myself laughing out loud at the punch dancing and stunts gone bad. It's funny stupid.

The John Stoddard Center Rally Against Cancer was a sold out success in West Des Moines. It was my privilege to introduce a real legend, Gale Sayers. Sayers is 64 but looks 54, or younger. For a guy like me who grew up watching Brian's Song with my father every Thanksgiving, it was like being a kid again. I though Sayers was at this best Saturday night during the audience Q&A. He talked about what a mistake it was for the Vikings to move indoors (no Super Bowl appearances since) and how much he hates players celebrating like it's an individual sport.

Major League Baseball's most respect umpire, Tim McClelland, was so moved by the Rally Against Cancer, he spontaneously donated four Cubs playoff tickets to every home game. The tickets went for a few thousand dollars, which still trumps scalpers. And yes, Tim thinks the Cubs will win the division. Good news for us Cubs fans.

Anyway, I had a great time, and was fortunate to co-host with Erin Kiernan. Erin makes it look easy. I was nervous. After all, it was Gale Sayers!

John Bachman spent the week following Tiger Woods around the golf course in San Diego. John picked a good tourney. Tiger won by 97 strokes. John came in second.

Do not, I repeat DO NOT try the Diet Dr. Pepper Cherry Chocolate. It tastes awful. It likes a melted Tootsie Pop from a garbage bin. I still can't shake the aftertaste. YUCK.

Just think, Mediacom has a hotter property in the Drake Bulldogs than the Big Ten Network has in the Hawks. Won't stay that way, but it sure doesn't help the BTN's already shaky case. There's nothing fan friendly about a network trying to make money off its hardcore followers, no matter how you spin it.

12 comments:

I like the Diet Cherry Chocolate Dr. Pepper and now I'm wondering what that says about me. Maybe it's more potent from a can? I've only had it from a 2 liter bottle, but I liked it. I wouldn't say it's an every day soda, but as a sometimes soda, I like it.

In unrelated news, I thought the trophy that Drake received after beating UNI resembled a junior high shop project. Aren't trophies supposed to have gold on them?

You know, people need to stop complaining about the Big 10 Network. It's worth it. I'm not a Hawk fan, but their production value alone would be worth the price. I, for one, am anxious for the Big 12 Network, and would be happy to pay $5 a month extra for it.

In the beginning, I thought it was greed from the Big 10 Network, but their product has proven to be worth it. Mediacom, just up your rates. Christ, you've upped them for less. You've upped them since the debate began. When will you LEARN to raise your rates when you have a well-publicized scapegoat, instead of refusing to pay more and raising the rates anyway? Ugh. Thank God I'm on DirecTV.

I'm more outraged by the horrid production value of the FOX Sports/ESPN Plus/CTN games than anything. They must have a budget of $7.66 for each game, and walk away with $4.28 left over from aforementioned budget.

How long do you think the BTN will be around Keith? I do have it since I have Directv, but I think it's ridiculous (sp?) that so many of their games don't start until 8:00. I think you've mentioned that before too.

There's no hero or villain in the BTN vs. Mediacom battle. These are two huge companies trying to make money off you and me.

Having said that, make no mistake about the BTN. It wasn't created out of some desire to make Big Ten fans happier or better served (they're not better served; fans now pay for games they used to watch for free), it's simply to make more millions.

I'd also like Mediacom to add BTN because I don't want to give up the Connections channel. It has a lot of good local sports---including Drake basketball---not available on Dish or DirecTV.

Keith- I think that the boat you find yourself in is the boat many sports fans who held onto Mediacom with a wait and see attitude had/have. Afterall, you ditch Mediacom and you ditch not only the local HS and collegiate games they pick up, but if you are an Iowa or ISU fan, you lose State of the Nations.The other feeling that you have that others share, is that only Shawn would be interested in a Pearl Jam channel. But then again, if one wanted that, they could just play some mediocre rock music with a goat making noises over it and you've got your very own Pearl Jam channel!